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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

HISTORY AND THE BI-POLAR (OOPS, BI-REGIONAL) WRITER

While I'm at it, I'll give a shout out to Abraham Lincoln and my mother who share this birthday.

You
might call me a bipolar writer. I grew
up in New England, but have chosen to make my home in the west. Colorado’s mountains drew me west but
grandkids got me to Oklahoma.

My
books reflect that bipolar (maybe bi-regional?) background. Of my twenty-five books, thirteen of them are
set in Western states: Colorado, Kansas,
Oklahoma, Texas. Eight
of them are in New England, with more coming.

I
never expected to write historical fiction at all, although I loved to read it.
But after my first book came out, I was invited to write a novella set in
during a 1913 Colorado blizzard. After I “suffered” for my art by staying at
the Brown Palace Hotel (the setting of my story) and uncovered a tidbit about
elephants helping to clear the streets after the blizzard (true story!), I was
hooked on research. Not only that, the story (Dressed in Scarlet in Snowbound
Colorado Christmas) went on to final in the Book of the Year contest
sponsored American Christian Fiction Writers for the novella.

My
initial success has led to a passion for hunting those fascinating,
unbelievable, and just plain weird tidbits of history that beg for stories. I look
forward to sharing my favorite rabbit trails with you.

I love finding those interesting tidbits of history too. I think my favorite so far was discovering the story of the Marquis De Mores, a wealthy French aristocrat who came to America, woed a high society New Yorker and married her, then later moved to the wilds of North Dakota with a vision of shipping butchered beef back east. To that date (1883) only live cattle had been shipped east. He started the tiny town of Medora, named after his wife, and it's still in existence, as is the 26 room Chalet he built and lived in. Super cool little town.

Hi, Darlene, I'm a tidbitter too. That's the joy in research. Jerry and I recently moved to Chimney Rock, Colorado. When I discovered that the Chimney Rock school had been in my east cow pasture, I was elated. Now, I researching our deed history and looking for a picture of the school. There's a story amongst those pocket gopher holes, for sure!

Hi Darlene, I have not read your stories but the story of research about elephants helping with blizzard getting you started into more of it, I think I will be looking for them. you sound like a wonderful author and certainly well traveled.I am really enjoying meeting folks on this new site, I am a historical romance reader first but do read others also as I love to read.thanks for your commentsPaula O(kyflo130@yahoo.com)

Those bunny trails...and elephant paths...can sure take a writer on some interesting adventures. You have a knack for finding them and your curiosity sure leads to some wonderful story lines. You are a master at that!

Whereabouts in New England!? I'm a big Sox fan, would love to be snowed in for a knee deep blizzard, warmed by a wood stove + fireplace, whilst reading + writing cozily underneath a quilt!! :) I think if I had had your experience at that hotel, I'd be plumb happy to start writing too! I mean, goodness! What a juicy tidbit to get yourself started! :) I've heard of extrordinary stories of how snow, ice, and water can be shifted but elephants -- now that is a first! :)

Ooh you have rabbits, too!? I'm in love with my marsh rabbits! Just being five feet away from a curious marsh rabbit nibbling on his salad is enough to melt my heart! I've had to become symbiotically able to take photographs now!!

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